Color Him Father
by jb134
Summary: Dean Winchester is content living life the way it is, hunting monsters with Sam and Cas, and living in the Bunker. everything is going great until a Nephilim literally falls from the sky and attaches herself to Dean. With no one else to take care of her, Dean is thrust into parenthood. but it seems that other's are after the girl, and her falling may not have been accidental at all
1. prologue

BOOM!

To anyone listening, it had sounded like a clap of thunder. There was a flash of colorful light as an object crashed out of the sky, to the earth below. Then everything was still.

The child was small, only maybe three years old. She had thin, blond hair that hung to her shoulders, and her skin was pail; there were no freckles on her round face. The only thing not human about the little girl whom had just fallen out of the sky (and seemed to be fast asleep with a thumb stuck in her mouth) was the pair of feathered wings that sprouted from her back. She shivered, naked in the clear spring night, and wrapped herself in feathers.

Slowly, for the first time sense falling, the little girl opened huge green eyes. At first things where blurry, but as she blinked them clear, she looked up and saw the figures of two men standing above her.


	2. Chapter 1

"I'm just saying that for once it would be nice."

Castiel had popped into the back seat of the impala just in time to catch Sam defending himself in whatever argument the brothers where having. Neither of the Winchesters had herd him 'mojo' himself into the car, and both jumped when he said hello, the impala swerving ever slightly into the next lane.

"Fuck Cas," Dean said, straitening the car. "A little warning next time."

"I am sorry." Cas said, for lack of anything else to say.

There was silence for a moment before Sam spoke up.

"So, Cas, what brings you here? Not to sound rude, or anything, but I thought you were out helping people."

Cas thought for a moment. In reality, he had no idea why he had suddenly decided to join the brothers, but he had. There was a feeling, something pulling on his grace- telling him that he needed to be here with the hunters, and Dean was constantly telling him to 'trust his gut.' So he had.

"I feel it is in my best interest to be here at this time." He answered simply.

Dean looked at him through the mirror. "So, what? Is something going down? Cuz' I'm tellen' you right now: I have had enough shit for one night, thank you."

"I don't believe that anything apocalyptic is going to happen tonight. But I have a feeling that I should be here."

Dean turned the impala into the parking lot of a motel. He seemed tired, the adrenalin levels from the latest hunt finally leveling out.

They had got the room earlier in the week, and as they entered, Sam beelines to the shower before Dean can say anything. Sighing, Dean switched the TV on and plopped down on one of the twin beds, flipping through channels. Castiel sat at the end of the bed that Sam had claimed, as the younger brother was in the shower. The channel flipped to a news broadcast that was covering a meteor shower in the area. The broadcast was live and Dean stopped for a minute to listen to what the broadcaster was saying. Castiel supposed that the hunter found the report uninteresting, because he then switched the channel, finally stopping on a 'Dukes of Hazard' rerun. But Castiel was still thinking of the meteor shower. Something was off, he could feel it like more pulling on his grace. He was just about to voice his feelings, when a flash of blinding light lit up the motel windows and a loud BOOM like thunder sounded. It only took a second for Cas and Dean to be at the window. Across the street, in a field just passed a line of trees, something had fallen.

"Meteor?" Dean asked, feeling a little sick. Something was telling him that this was not a meteor.

"No. I don't believe so." Cas confirmed, which did nothing to sooth Deans unsettled stomach.

For a moment they just stood there. Then, Dean realized that the shower was still running. He turned to the door, and knocked twice.

"Sammie? You OK in there?" he waited for a second before Sam called out "I'm not three, Dean. I'm not afraid of thunder."

Dean and Cas shared a look. "That was not thunder." Cas stated. His grace was being called out to- something wanted him to find it.

Dean's unsettled stomach seemed to bubble. "Cas and I are going to check something out!" he called. He didn't wait for a reply before the two headed out the door and across the street.

Dean and Cas stood at the edge of a crater in the field. Both were staring, gape mouthed, at the sight before them. There was a crater about 6 feet deep, and twenty-four feet wide. Some small patches of surviving grass was on fire here and there, but what they were staring at was inside. In the center, there was a tiny child, wrapped in a pair of feathery wings.


	3. Chapter 2

For a few moments, Cas and Dean just stood there, not sure what to do.

"A Nephilim." Castiel mumbled. Dean turned and looked at him.

"What?"

Castiel looked at Dean. "A nephilim." He said again. "A child who is born to an angel and a human. They are incredibly rare."

Dean gaped a Cas, then turned his head back to the child in the crater. She shivered and her wings wrapped tight around her. He notes that she didn't have any clothing, only her wings, and shook his head.

"What's she doing here?" he asked the angel next to him.

"I do not know. I do not understand how she got here."

Suddenly the child opened large green eyes. She stared at them for a long time. She opened her mouth in a large yawn and took her thumb out of her mouth just long enough to rub her eyes. She blinked at them and sat up, slowly. For a minuet they just stared at each other. Then Castiel took off his trench coat and moved cautiously towards the child, slowly navigating his way down into the hole. She didn't move or flinch, but watched him intensely as he approached, crouching down and wrapping the beige fabric around her. She locked her eyes with his and timidly took her thumb out of her mouth.

Dean hadn't moved from his spot at the crater. Cas had slowly picked up the child and brought her to the edge, no doubt using some of his angle mojo to calm her. Dean sat in the grass and let his feet hang over the edge. The little girl twisted around to look at Dean, who was still gaping. Trying to process that an angel-human hybrid had just fallen from the sky.

"Hello." Dean said. The little girl blinked at him.

"Where did you come from?" Dean asked slowly. Still, the little girl just looked at him. "What's your name?" he tried. Again, she just looked at him, two sets of green eyes locking on each other.

"Do you have a mother or a father?" Cas asked quietly. She didn't answer him either.

Castiel and Dean looked at her. There where sirens in the distance, and Dean realized that it might be a bad idea to get caught with a kid in a crater in the middle of a field. Especially if that kid had wings.

"We need to take her back with us." Cas said. Dean nodded, and Cas slowly passed her to Dean, and then appeared out of the crater.

The three made their way back to the hotel, closing the door just as the sirens and cars pulled up onto the street.

Cas watched the little girl as Dean carried her back to the motel room. His trench coat was pulled over her head, and large green eyes watched him from just above Dean's shoulder. Her tiny hand where clutching Dean's shirt.

Their where only a handful of nephilim borne every few hundred years. And many times they were borne in heaven, the angelic parent not wanting them to be on earth. Once they came to earth, nephilim could not get to heaven without the traditional human method of dying. And most angels did not want their child on earth, if they wanted them at all.

They entered the motel room, where Sam was lounging on the bed, rapidly typing on his computer. He looked up to see Dean holding something wrapped in Cas' trench coat. Both looking confused, and a little miffed.

"What happened with you two?" he smirked. Cas and Dean both looked at him with serious expressions. He stopped smirking.

"Dean?"

"Remember how Cas said that nothing big would happen tonight? I think he needs to be given a new prospective on 'big'."

"I believe I said nothing 'apocalyptic' would happen." Cas defended weekly. Dean gave him a look. "I will go to heaven, and see if I can find her parent."

"Wait- Cas- what-"

But Castiel had popped out of the room before he could hear the mixture of protest from Dean and confused questions from Sam.

Sam looked at Dean, a mixture of questioning and wonder on his face. "Her parent?."

Sam watched as Dean went to the other bed and slowly brought Cas' trench coat down. The look on Sam's face must have been a look of Horror, because Dean quickly went into a frenzy trying to explain what happened. And why there was a small girl wrapped in Cas' coat.

When Dean finally finished ranting, he zoned in enough to realize that the little one had shrugged out of the oversized coat to cling to his shirt. Dean sighed, crouching down to the little girl's height.

"It's OK sweetheart." He said "but we need to keep this on." Dean helped the little girl pull the oversized coat on, and button it up, rolling up the sleeves. Sam watched from his spot on the bed. He had long sense put up his computer and was watching Dean dress the girl. She eyed Sam wearily, never releasing her grip on Dean's shirt. Dean pulled her into his lap. She yawned and used one of her hands to rub her eyes. Then stuck her thumb in her mouth. She was asleep in a matter of moments.

"So, she's a nephilim?" Sam asked quietly.

"That's what Cas said."

"So her parent is an angel? Do you know who?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." Dean said.

It was then that Castiel chose to pop back in.

"Well?" Dean said, quietly, eyeing the angle "who is she? Did you find her parents?"

Castiel blinked at Dean. "Her name is Caden." He said. "And her parents are dead."


	4. Chapter 3

Castiel let his statement sink in, he stayed silent, figuring that he should answer questions as they came along.

"She doesn't have any parents."

Castiel's trip to heaven had, for once, gone according to plan. He had found an angle who knew about the girl and was able to tell him about her, then pointed him in the direction of a section of heaven that the little one had been living in. his trip had only taken a few hours for him, But only minuets for Sam and Dean. The information was sad and complicated; Castiel was not looking forward to retelling it to the boys. Especially since he could see the girl's aura and her grace had done exactly what he knew it would do the moment the angle in heaven had told him how to find a suitable parent.

"Cas!"

Castiel suddenly realized he had been staring at the sleeping girl's aura, he looked up at Dean. He wouldn't be happy with the news. Shirley he'd understand that Castiel had rushed back when he realized what would happen.

"What do you mean her parents are dead?" Dean was watching him carefully. Castiel sighed quietly. "Her mother died during birth." He said "her father was killed by a demon two years ago." he stopped for a second to watch Dean. Then continued. "She technically was born in haven and lived with her father there. After her father died, she was sent to her mother's heaven. But something happened, and she fell."

"How'd she fall?" Sam asked. The older hunter jumped, having all but forgotten his brother's presents in the room.

"I do not know. There was no reason she should have come to earth."

"I suppose you're going to take her back now, then" Sam said. Castiel noted Dean Reach out for the little girl and sighed again. She had already claimed him, and, judging by his aura, Dean's soul had hatched on to the idea of a like soul being around.

"Unfortunately," Castiel gulped, "she cannot go back to heaven. Once a nephilim has come to earth, the only way she could get back is by dyeing. To make up for this, her soul will search for someone who has a soul like hers, and latch onto it like a life line."

"So we need to find someone who is willing to take her in, despite the wings and fact that she fell from the sky?" Dean asked.

"No, Dean." Castiel said. "Her soul is held together with grace that came from her father. She will look for someone else- a human whose soul is also held together with an angle's grace. Then, when her soul senses the presents of another like it, her grace will connect immediately because it understands she is too young to protect herself. In such a situation, She might also bond with an angel, but not before the human."

"Shouldn't she already have that connection with her mother?" Dean asked.

"Her mother's spirit raised her in heaven. Her grace will look for someone living."

"So we need to find another nephilim, or someone who has grace in their soul?" Sam asked. Castiel averted his eyes, not looking at either brother, instead finding a grain of dirt in the carpet to stare at.

"No. nephilim are not born every day, I do not know of any others." Castiel gulped. "She's already latched onto another soul." He said quietly.

"What? Who?" Dean hadn't yelled, but his voice was louder than he had probably wanted it to be. Caden wriggled in his arms.

Castiel looked at Sam, hoping he might understand. Luckily he seemed to.

"You, Dean."


	5. Chapter 4

Dean's eyes widened. "Me?!"

Castiel gulped, still refusing to look at Dean. "Well, yes. You were the first person she found whom had grace infused with their soul…" his voice trailed off.

"Cas," Dean said, "why do I have grace 'infused' with my soul?" Castiel shuffled his feet. He knew Dean might not be happy with the idea that his grace was inside him, connecting them both

"When I pulled you from Hell, I had to put your body back together, and prepare it for your soul. It took a little of my grace to get everything in order. At any rate the grace would have faded from your body with time, however your soul, it needed extensive care. A lot more than your body. I had to fuse some of my grace with your soul, so that it would heal. Once grace is within a soul, it stays."

Dean just stared at Cas. He turned his head to look at Sam, who was looking back at him worriedly. Castiel and Sam watched Dean as if the where both waiting for his head to explode.

Dean just looked back. He would think that this was just some messed up hoax, but he knew that neither Cas or Sam would ever do something like this. The little girl- Caden- wriggled in his arms again, turning over and pressing her face in Dean's stomach. For quite a while, everything was quiet.

"So what now?" Dean asked. He wondered what was going to happen. If she had really attached to him, would that mean that she would need to stay with him? They could try to find someone who was more equipped to take care of a kid, someone who wanted a daughter. But it would be next to impossible to find someone who would look passed the angle wings, and impossible to find someone with grace infused with their soul. It was infeasible to even think that they could find someone with both qualities. The strange thing, though, was he really didn't want to give her up. Dean thought to himself, about the kids he had met. Luke, who wouldn't talk. Ben, who he wanted to be his, and Emma, who had been his and had died trying to kill him.

"She will need to stay where she is safest…" Castiel said, interrupting Dean's thoughts "She will need someone who can protect her from demons and other supernatural things that would wish to harm her, should they get the chance."

"So, what you're saying," Sam said, "is that she needs to stay with us?"

"It would be the most… ideal situation." Castiel was quiet for a while. Dean and Sam shared a look. Dean didn't know if he could do this. What if he messed her up? He didn't know anything about nephilim. What if she hated him, though that seemed unlikely, or if he couldn't protect her? What if someone tried to take her, or she got hurt on a hunt? It wasn't practical for him to take a kid with him hunting. Maybe he could be home based? He sighed. That could work. But if he was going to do this, he would need his brother's support.

"Well, Sammy? What do you think? Want to be an uncle?"

"If it's what you want."

Dean sighed he wasn't sure about this, really, but then he nodded at Castiel, who promptly popped out of the room to learn more about nephilim. Sam yawned loudly and Dean took it as a sign that it was time for sleep. He carefully maneuvered Caden into the bed, and covered the two year old up in the blankets. He settled on the couch in the corner, and, despite his racing thoughts, was asleep almost the moment he sat down.

The next morning Dean woke up to a stiff neck, a missing brother, an angle watching TV, and a heavy weight on his legs. He blinked sleep out of his eyes and looked down. At some point in the night, Caden had woken up and crawled into his lap to sleep.

"Morning Cas."

"Good morning Dean."

"Where's Sam?"

"He said something about food."

Dean shifted Caden off of his legs, not wanting to wake her. Then stood, trying to get his blood flowing again, and stretching the kink out of his neck.

Sam chose that moment to come barreling through the door. He had tripped on the curb, and fallen, face first into the door. The door, which wasn't locked, had swung open with the force of such a large person falling into it, and banged loudly into the wall. Caden startled, sitting straight up, and at the same moment, Sam was lying on his face, arms stretched out with two paper bags and a plastic one in one hand. The coffee he had gotten himself and Dean where spilt over the floor.

For a moment, everyone was quiet. Then, Dean broke into loud, hysterical laughter. He tried to stop, but only laughed harder when he saw his brother giving him one of his bitch faces. Castiel went to Sam and picked up the coffee cups, fixing the damage, and re-filling both, even he was smirking. Dean was still trying to stop laughing when he heard it.

There was a soft giggle coming from the couch.


	6. Chapter 5

After Sam's comical fall, the three worked at getting Caden to eat the food Sam had brought. Dean noted that she seemed to like apples, and orange juice, and getting her to eat the biscuit and sausage sandwich hadn't been much of a problem. (After she decided she didn't like the cheese, and Dean scraped it off for her.)

After giggling at Sam that morning, they could tell Caden was warming up to the three of them. She wasn't talking yet, but she was making small noises that sounded like yeses and noes, and nodding her head as responses. She was still insistent on sticking close to Dean, but wasn't gripping on to him for dear life anymore, so that was good.

After breakfast, Sam pulled the small plastic bag that he had brought in with breakfast. It was from a dollar General and was filled with clothing.

"I stopped at the dollar store to see what they had. I don't know her size, but I figured it would tie her over until we got some decent cloths for her. She still needs something that will hide her wings, though." Sam pulled out a pair of Children's jeans and a large t-shirt, along with a pair of flip-flops.

Dean was able to persuade Caden to wear the clothing and couldn't help but smile once she had the articles on. The pants fit on her waste, but hung down past her feet. The t-shirt had been an adult's with the hope that the baggy cloth would hide her wings. The flip-flops where the right size, however and the look was comical.

Castiel told the hunters that he needed to go learn more about nephilim, and Sam thought it would be a good idea to shop a little, until they could get home to the Bunker. There had been a small down-town with booths and shops that seemed perfect for shopping for clothing and stuff, because Caden couldn't walk around in oversized t-shirts all the time, no matter how cute and comical it was.

Down town was busy, and Dean was nerves that he might lose Caden in the crowd. Their where people selling and shopping for everything from fruit to toys to antiques. And to save himself from further anxiety, he wound up carrying her down the side walk. Sam declared that he would be going to find some of the little things, like a tooth-brush, and suggested Dean try cloths shopping in a little store they had come to, then promptly left them there.

On the inside, the store was small. And shopping for Caden turned out to not be too difficult a task, with a little help.

"Can I help you sir?" Came a voice behind him. Dean found a very pretty young lady smiling at him, and naturally smiled back, flirtingly.

"I suppose we could use a little assistance." He replied. Caden gripped onto his pants, from where he had placed her on the floor.

"What exactly are you looking for?" she asked, eyeing Caden and her t-shirt.

He gulped "I don't really know her size, and she doesn't really have anything but that…" she eyed him suspiciously,

"May I ask-"

"House fire." Dean cut her off with the first excuse that seemed plausible. "It's her uncle's shirt. I think he'd like it back soon though." The woman seemed to buy it, and her eyebrows nit together.

"Oh, you poor thing, I'm so sorry." She walked over to the rack Dean had been looking at. "Well these are all of the cloths we have for kids her size. Some of them are boy's cloths, though."

"Thank you, it shouldn't be a problem." He flashed her a grin and stepped over to the clothing, Caden dragging along.

For a few minutes he looked through the clothing, encouraging Caden to do the same. He found two larger pull-over hoodies that he figured might help cover her wings.

Dean turned to see what Caden thought. They were, after all, going to be her cloths, so they might as well be something she liked. "Well kid, there are two col-" he stopped dead. Caden was not where she had been a minuet ago. She wasn't anywhere he could see.

"Caden?!" Where was she? This had been a bad idea. He had just had her. She had been standing right next to him.

"Caden?!" Dean wiped around, panic seeped through him as he realized she was missing. She couldn't have gone too far, the store wasn't that big what if something had taken her? Cas had said something about that, hadn't he? He could see right to the front- THERE! Dean could see the little girl in her oversized t-shirt, just outside the store in the big open window. Dean ran to the front and out the door. He jogged right up to the stand selling "one of a kind plush toys" Caden had just pulled one down when Dean grabbed her shoulders and made her face him. He sighed in relief, and pulled her into a hug.

"God, Caden. You scared me." He pulled her away and looked at her. "Oops." She said, her eyes where wide.

"Promise me you won't run off like that again." Dean looked right into her wide green eyes. Caden nodded. He then looked down at the thing in her hands. It was a large, gray elephant with white tusks and toe nails, the fuzz on the insides of its ears, and bottom of its feet where darker than the rest of its body. She held it up proudly to Dean and said "Oops."

Dean smiled, then dropped his head and started laughing. "Oops." He said. And looked at her again. Then he stood up, picking her up off the ground and walked to the lady operating the stand.

"How much for the elephant?" he asked. He wound up paying $8.50 for the toy and carried Caden and her new elephant back into the store.


End file.
